Firefox 73 introduces "Readability Backplate" to aid People with Vision Problem

Mozilla has released Firefox 73, as a first point to its scheduled four weeks browser refresh, which it announced in September, against the original six-week span.

The browser's faster release span may mean the distinct possibility that each upgrade will now boast of fewer new features, which Firefox 73 is a proof, with only a few highlighted changes. Among the notable addition is a new default setting for page zooming, with about six vulnerabilities patched, half of which is labeled as "High" - the second-most-severe threat rating by Mozilla.

Mozilla, however touted the addition of "readability backplate" designed to collaborate with Windows' high contrast mode. The new setting replaces the original colors of a website's text and background, with high contrast for easier reading by people with vision problem.

Starting with Firefox 73, the readability backplate will now place a block of background color between the text and background image, so that websites in High Contrast Mode are more readable without the disabling of background images.

How to Change Default Setting for Page Zooming

There is a new global user-set default for the page zoom, instead of zooming by each site individually, it can now be set as default level higher or lower than 100% baseline.

If you want to change the default zoom (100%), you must open Preferences on macOS or Options on Windows PC, then from the "General" tab find "Language and Appearance" and then select the desired default zoom from the box.

What the “Readability Backplate” Solution is all about?

For users with low vision, who rely on Windows' High Contrast Mode to make sites more readable, formerly to increase readability of text, Firefox disables background images with High Contrast Mode enabled.

But starting with Firefox 73, the “readability backplate” solution places a block of background color between the text and background image, so that websites in High Contrast Mode are more readable without disabling the background images.

Firefox 73 is now available for download on Windows, macOS and Linux from Mozilla's official site. Firefox updates, however happens in the background for those that have it already installed, so users would only need to relaunch the browser to get the new version.

If the automatic update fails, you can manually update for Windows PCs, by pulling up the menu under the three horizontal bars at the upper right, and click the question mark within a circle, then choose About Firefox. While users on macOS, the "About Firefox" is under the "Firefox" menu. The page will show if the browser is up to date or start the refresh process.